Posted on 05/28/2008 9:28:47 AM PDT by milwguy
Did you miss the post that link to years of new lease sales for oil and gas exploration?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2022493/posts?page=70#70
Here is a link to a whole series of articles strictly about current US exploration for oil and gas.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/category.asp?c_id=2&r_id=13&lxd=183
And another link just about exploration in the Gulf of Mexico
http://www.rigzone.com/news/category.asp?c_id=2&r_id=1&lxd=183
Here is a list of seismic crews working in the US. Seismic survey is done prior to exploratory drilling.
http://www.worldoil.com/INFOCENTER/STATISTICS_DETAIL.asp?Statfile=_us-geophysical-activity
World Oil Magazine has a column each month on exploration discoveries. For 2008 the following have been listed:
BP America made an oil discovery in Mississippi Canyon Block 771 on its Kodiak Prospect in the US Gulf of Mexico . The well found 500 ft of net pay in Middle and Lower Miocene sandstone reservoirs. The well was drilled in 5,000 ft of water, 60 mi offshore Louisiana. BP (operator) holds 63.75% working interest in partnership with Eni (25%) and Marubeni Oil & Gas (11.25%).
LLOG Exploration made three deepwater discoveries in the US Gulf of Mexico . A Mississippi Canyon Block 72 discovery was completed in January and found over 100 ft of gas pay. It will be tied back to Pompano, Viosca Knoll 989. Mississippi Canyon Block 503 well was completed in late 2007 and encountered more than 380 ft of gas and condensate pay in four reservoir intervals. Also completed late last year was a Green Canyon 448 discovery, which found 85 ft of oil pay.
Anadarko Petroleum found oil at its West Tonga prospect on Green Canyon Block 726 in the deep water Gulf of Mexico . The well encountered 350 ft of pay from Miocene sands on the subsalt feature. The well is located in 4,700 ft of water and drilled to a TD of 25,680 ft.
Index Oil & Gas discovered gas in its Ducroz-1 well in Brazoria County, Texas . The well tested 4 MMcfgd from two Miocene sands. The well drilled to a 6,450-ft TD.
Majestic Oil & Gas completed its Jody Field discovery wildcat in Pondera County Montana . The well drilled to a 3,545-ft TD and found 32 ft of pay in three intervals of the Madison/Sun River Dolomite.
Chevron’s Big Foot-3 Sidetrack 2 appraisal well confirmed the discovery announced in January 2006 in the US Gulf of Mexico . The appraisal well’s TD was 25,113 ft in Walker Ridge Block 29, northwest of the previously drilled wells in more than 5,000 ft of water. The location is 180 mi offshore near the Chevron-operated Jack and St Malo discoveries.
Shell made an oil discovery in DeSoto Canyon Blocks 353 and 397 and Mississippi Canyon Block 393 in the US Gulf of Mexico . The well found 300 ft of pay in its Vicksburg Prospect well, drilled to a TD of 25,400 ft in 7,500 ft of water. Shell, Nexen Petroleum and Plains Exploration & Production Company are partners in the prospect.
Brooks Range Petroleum found potential oil pay in its North Shore-1 exploration well in the Sag and Ivishak formations but was not able complete the well before the end of the 2007 winter drilling season. The well was drilled to 13,319 ft in Alaska’s North Slope Gwydyr Bay area just northwest of Prudhoe Bay.
Hard Rock Exploration found oil and gas in Cabell County, West Virginia . The HR-216 well flowed at a rate of about 960 bpd, and the HR-219 well tested at a stabilized rate of 2 MMcfd.
ExxonMobil and StatoilHydro’s Julia well in Walker Ridge Block 848, deepwater Gulf of Mexico , is an indicated oil discovery. The Julia well drilled to a 31,169-ft TD in 7,654 ft of water.
Anadarko Petroleum found oil at its West Tonga prospect on Green Canyon Block 726 in the deep water Gulf of Mexico . The well encountered 350 ft of pay from Miocene sands on the subsalt feature. The well is located in 4,700 ft of water and drilled to a TD of 25,680 ft.
Index Oil & Gas discovered gas in its Ducroz-1 well in Brazoria County, Texas . The well tested 4 MMcfgd from two Miocene sands. The well drilled to a 6,450-ft TD.
Majestic Oil & Gas completed its Jody Field discovery wildcat in Pondera County Montana . The well drilled to a 3,545-ft TD and found 32 ft of pay in three intervals of the Madison/Sun River Dolomite.
Sales in the Chukchi and Beaufort Sea started in 2003.
http://www.mms.gov/ld/AKsales.htm
Sales in NPRA started in 1999
http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/energy/oil_gas/npra/npra_lease_sales.html
How many examples do you want?
That wasn't helpful. Just took me back to the same post that had links to sites with reams of data. As I said, what I saw indicated they were mostly actually reselling leases that were expiring.
The articles you provide seem to be speaking of companies that are 'exploring' on land they already had the right to explore. That's not the new exploration I was talking about. (If you have land you haven't dug into yet, but have had the right to dig it up, it's not granting new rights to dig when you finally dig it up.)
Hopefully, that will help you understand what I was saying.
No, most of them are sales of areas not previously leased. Sometimes they don't get explored and the lease return to the government for resale, but most are new leases.
Here is a list of the number of acres offered and purchased in the many different Gulf of Mexico lease sales.
http://www.gomr.mms.gov/homepg/lsesale/swiler/Table_2.PDF
If you wanted areas of new exploration, many of the are areas never before explored.
If you wanted new areas never before opened up for lease sales, examples of federally controlled land and water are in the NPRA, Chukchi and Beaufort Sea. Also, previous posts included state and private area that have recently become available as well.
I did do some googling on 'Congress approves new oil leases' and found a few articles that mention new leases approved by Congress, so it would appear that some new exploration has been allowed.
We could certainly use more.
And we could use some easing of restrictions on refineries so that new ones can be built.
Exploration is searching for new oil/gas. Exploration is not defined as searching only in areas not previously released for possible exploration.
The refinery is still for sale. It's marginal of course, all of them are, not a great investment these days, but at least it's already built so you won't need the $2-5 billion to start from scratch.
When they ease the environmental restrictions, I'll buy it. ;)
It’s there now. If it is closed this town will be in a hurt. Save us!
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